Chapter 558: Rules Set by Oneself
The head of the Cui family published this letter to announce that he would sever ties with the Cui clan members who were now in Taiyuan, and severely reprimanded Cui Lang for his behavior, saying that he was a playboy and rebellious, and violated the clan rules and ancestral teachings, and refused to change despite repeated admonitions. This time, he incited the clan members to abandon the ancestral business of Qinghe, which was an unforgivable mistake.
What's more, Cui Lang sent his clansmen to Taiyuan to seek refuge with those who had been expelled from the Cui family. This was a manifestation of disregarding clan rules and treating the clan's trust and loyalty as nothing. He had no respect for the ancestral rites and laws and was truly unworthy of being a descendant of the Cui family.
Those clan members who committed the same mistakes under Cui Lang's instigation were accused of only caring about saving their own lives, causing the Cui family's Qinghe foundation of hundreds of years to be destroyed by the Fanyang army and the rioters. They had no perseverance and were only interested in living, which disgraced the Cui family's character.
The above are all what Cui Ju said in the "Letter of Severing Relationship". Every word he wrote was as sharp as a knife, full of grief, disappointment and even contempt. He called those clansmen who fled from Qinghe "despicable traitors who destroyed the Cui family's foundation for hundreds of years" and ordered them and their descendants not to call themselves the Cui family of Qinghe for the rest of their lives.
In this world where the clan system, in a certain sense, overrides the law, Cui Ju's "letter of severing ties" without leaving any room for maneuver was equivalent to severing the clan ties between the Cui family in the capital and the Cui family headed by Cui Lang in a secular sense, thus dividing the family into two and drawing a clear line of demarcation.
As for whether the emperor would agree to this matter at this juncture, Cui Ju had his own considerations in his mind.
Whether the emperor will insist on implicating Liu Lang and others depends on who Liu Lang and others depend on.
May you be safe and peaceful forever...
Cui Ju stood on the high pavilion, overlooking the entire Anyifang, and said in an old voice as if muttering to himself: "That's enough."
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the old man's thin shoulders. He stood quietly and looked until night fell, slowly swallowing his figure into a miniature in the darkness.
Three days later, hundreds of imperial guards armed with swords quickly surrounded Anyifang.
Two days ago, Cui Hao was questioned by the Crown Prince at the morning court for colluding with the Jiedushi of Jiannan Road and assassinating the Jiedushis of Lingnan and Shuofang.
Despite the “ironclad evidence”, although Cui Hao did not plead guilty, his official uniform was still taken away from him and he was taken to prison for trial.
This winter storm, which had been foreshadowed, finally came in torrents.
When the Imperial Guards and the Dali Temple came to Anyifang to arrest people, the area outside Anyifang was almost surrounded by scholars who had come upon hearing the news.
For the literati in the world, the prestigious Cui family is the leader of the world's scholars. The poor students are dissatisfied with the gentry's monopoly on the world's literary world, but they all yearn for the gentry's character and regard the gentry gentlemen as their only role models.
This contradiction of both resentment and respect has been alleviated to a great extent due to the rapid decline of the gentry in recent years. Instead, it has been replaced by a feeling of shared destiny among all the literati in the world.
Since Cui Hao was imprisoned, many scholars have often secretly heard the saying that "the Cui family was wronged". Those sayings are in line with the political logic of the time and are enough to make people want to believe them.
Therefore, at this moment, seeing the once noble and elegant members of the Cui family being shackled, most of the onlookers felt heavy-hearted.
At this time, someone in the crowd shouted, "It's Cui Gong!"
Everyone looked over and saw another group of Cui family members being escorted out of the town, led by an old man with white hair and beard.
Most people had never seen Cui Ju, but they were all familiar with the name of the head of the Cui family.
Cui Ju became famous for his articles since he was young. His moral conduct was spotless and he was always impartial and upright. In the minds of many literati, he was a well-deserved representative of the aristocratic character.
Now, this elderly head of the aristocratic family is wearing a navy blue gown and a black cloak. His clothes are still neat and tidy. If you don't look closely, you won't even notice that his hands are tied with chains under the cloak.
The tribesmen behind him showed no fear either.
The scholars in long gowns were tied with chains and the imperial guards were pressing them with knives, but they remained calm. Their proud backbone that refused to succumb to the swords was seen by the scholars watching as having even greater integrity than the plum blossoms that will bloom this winter.
Respectful calls of "Mr. Cui" rang out among the crowd, and countless people bowed to him.
The imperial guards who were in charge of maintaining order tried to draw their swords and stop them, but were stopped by Lu Chong, the general of the Zuotunwei who was in charge of the matter.
Lu Chong knew very well that the appearance of these literati here was probably due to someone fanning the flames behind the scenes. If the imperial guards took any extreme actions at this time, he was afraid that these people's hatred towards the court would be triggered.
The world is too depressing nowadays, and anything can ignite public anger.
Lu Chong tried his best to escort the Cui family to prison safely, so he did not treat the onlookers harshly, and signaled the imperial guards not to make any offensive or humiliating remarks to the Cui family in public.
When he was about to leave Anyifang, Cui Ju stopped and looked back at the three big characters "Anyifang" carved above the stone pillar archway.
The tribesmen behind Cui Ju stopped and stood beside him.
At this time, Cui Ju, who had been silent all the way, looked up at the memorial archway, as if asking the sky: "What have I, a member of the Cui family, done wrong? But if you want to accuse me, you can always find a pretext..."
His voice was not loud, but when the people around him saw him stop, they subconsciously focused and listened, and the scholars who were closer heard what he said.
Before the crowd could get agitated, they heard the old man raise his voice and continue, "The world no longer tolerates innocence, and everything is filthy. The world is turbid, and it is difficult for us to be clean... However, my Cui family is the leader of scholars in the world. If we are wronged and dare not even utter a sigh, where will the world's literary spirit go?"
Cui Ju's words were clear and powerful. Before he finished speaking, some scholars had red eyes and clenched their fists.
Seeing the crowd getting restless, Lu Chong had a bad feeling and walked forward quickly.
At this time, Cui Ju was surrounded by all the members of the Cui family. He spoke again, his voice rising and falling with determination: "Cui Ju can die, but he will never take the place of the entire Cui family to suffer this unjust humiliation!"
With these last words, the thin old man suddenly rushed forward and crashed into the stone pillar of the archway.
The stone pillars are hard and angular, just like the old man's straight spine full of determination.
The stone pillar was stained with blood, and the blood quickly spread on Cui Ju's forehead. A blood mark cut through the old man's brow like a sword, and blood beads fell straight down.
All this happened too suddenly. Lu Chong had never expected that the head of the Cui family, who had been calm and silent all the way, would commit suicide at this moment! "Head!"
"Mr. Cui..."
“…Father!!” Cui Wei, who had been walking behind with his head down, suddenly raised his legs, pushed through the crowd with his chained hands, and rushed forward in horror.
Cui Wei knelt down and together with his clansmen, he lifted up his father's thin body, tears of disbelief in his eyes: "Please call the doctor... quickly call the doctor!"
There was also a commotion among the imperial guards, and Lu Chong immediately said, "Bring the nearest doctor over!"
However, Cui Ju's face quickly turned pale. He was old and had made up his mind to die, so that collision left him no way out.
“Why did father…” Cui Wei hurriedly used his sleeve and fingers to wipe the blood off his father’s face, his voice hoarse and trembling: “Why did father do this!”
He knew very well that his father always planned everything he did and never acted on impulse...
So, this was also Dad’s plan, right?
Cui Wei suddenly understood something, and tears suddenly rolled down his eyes: "...It's my son's incompetence! The father should let his son do this... The son deserves to die!"
“You can’t die…” Cui Ju’s voice was weak. Cui Wei had to lower his head to barely hear clearly: “Ling An and Liu Lang saved half of the tribe, and you have to save the other half…”
"I would rather die than surrender, but I am just doing it for the world to see..." The old man's voice was like the wandering wind, as if it would completely disappear in the next moment: "The integrity of the Cui family is proven by my death... You must live, no matter what, you must live and protect your family members."
Cui Wei's tears rolled down. The father in his arms was much frailer than he had imagined. In a trance, Cui Wei suddenly realized that his father's life was like a candle, always burning for the clan.
At a time when the aristocratic family was in decline, my father spent his entire life planning a way out for the Cui family. Every move he made was based on far-sighted considerations, and even his death was paving the way for the Cui family.
What my father said in front of others just now was undoubtedly to complain about the injustice of the Cui family. Such sharp and complaining words about the world often came out of his mouth, and my father always blamed him for being naive and pedantic...
The same words, from the father's point of view, are to seek opportunities for the Cui family, not for the hypocritical and lofty gentleman's innocence in his heart...
He spent half his life immersed in unrealistic and self-deceiving ideals, while his father spent his entire life protecting the Cui family.
My father is a qualified head of the family and a true gentleman!
In comparison, he was nothing but an incompetent hypocrite! At this moment, Cui Wei suddenly had a completely different understanding of the word "real gentleman". He suppressed all his cries and lowered his head, trying to hear his father's last words.
Cui Ju's eyes had begun to blur.
This old man, who had done everything he could for the Cui family, uttered only two words as he was dying.
"Ling An..."
Ling An.
Putting aside his identity as the head of the Cui family, the old man was thinking about a kind of warmth that he could never truly fulfill due to the clan's interests and stance.
This last "Ling'an" was accompanied by a sigh, which was filled with regret and guilt.
The old man, who had lived a life without regrets, closed his eyes tiredly with only a trace of guilt.
Cui Wei hugged the old man tightly and burst into tears. He was a man who never behaved unruly in front of others, but at this moment he showed no manners at all.
Surrounded by cries of weeping, grief and anger, Lu Chong developed a new respect for the head of the Cui family.
At the same time, he was also very clear that the Cui family's case was about to become troublesome.
Although the Cui family members were still imprisoned, in the following days, more and more literati wrote poems and articles to appeal for justice for the Cui family. Some literati even went to the Dali Temple to appeal for justice for the Cui family without fear of pressure from the court.
Even among some neutral officials in the court, different voices began to be heard, tactfully persuading the prince to order a thorough reinvestigation of the case to avoid a wrongful conviction that would arouse rebellion among the literati. If it were to be exploited by someone with ulterior motives, it would probably cause a stir among the people and the court.
The prince went to Ganlu Palace trembling with fear to ask for an audience with the Emperor of Holy Ce.
The Emperor of the Holy Ceme said nothing, but suddenly raised his hand and dropped the medicine bowl beside him.
Ice-cold anger flashed between the emperor's brows - this incident had caused such a big disturbance in such a short time. In addition to Cui Ju's death, it must have been Prince Rong who was secretly fanning the flames... He was not only preventing her from killing the Cui family, but also inciting people and destroying the reputation of the court.
Li Yin...
When the Emperor of the Holy Ceremonies thought of these two words in his heart, a trace of resolute murderous intent emerged in his eyes.
The medicine bowl that was knocked down by the emperor shattered with a sound, and the broken porcelain pieces flew down the imperial steps. The prince knelt down in haste and kowtowed. Sensing the emperor's rage and murderous aura surging from above, the prince trembled and held his breath, not daring to speak.
At the same moment, outside Luoyang City, hundreds of miles away from the capital, Cui Lang, with a white silk tied around his waist, knelt down in the direction of the capital, kowtowed solemnly, tears welling up in his eyes.
Behind him, the remaining twenty-nine members of the Cui clan also tied their heads in white silk and kowtowed in unison.
The letter of severing the relationship reached Luoyang two days ago, and yesterday came the news that Cui Hao was imprisoned. This morning, we suddenly heard the news that Cui Ju had committed suicide.
Chang Suining, wearing a cloak, stood in the wind. After slowly pouring out a pot of sake, he looked towards the direction of the capital.
She and Cui Ju had no connection, but at this moment, separated by life and death, she could sense a hint of entrustment left by the other party.
Such a wise old woman, before her death, used such means to separate Cui Liulang and the Cui family members in Taiyuan. Wasn't this a kind of trust and entrustment to her?
Blood is a byproduct of power struggles, and interests are the source of all struggles. However, in between these cracks, the brilliance and resonance of humanity often emerge. This momentary resonance has nothing to do with right or wrong, but is simply about moving the human heart.
When Cui Lang stood up, he raised his hand to wipe away his tears and untied the white silk around his waist.
He no longer had the qualifications to dwell in sorrow; his grandfather had handed half of the tribe into his hands, and he could not let his grandfather down.
Cui Lang looked at the tribesmen whose eyes were red, and there was still a hint of hoarseness in his voice: "Today the army is heading north, and we cannot bring the funeral with us."
Without insisting or hesitating, everyone took off the white silk like Cui Lang did.
The white silk was piled on the ground and burned in a pot.
Cui Lang looked at the burning flames and silently threw his many bad habits as a teenager into the fire, bidding them farewell.
Qiao Yumian stood not far away and looked at the figure, her eyes moist.
A hand took the empty wine jug from Chang Suining's hand. Chang Suining came back to his senses and looked over: "Mr.
Luo Guanlin placed the wine pot at his feet and said to Chang Suining, "On this trip north, please take care of yourself, sir."
There was some worry in his eyes: "Those remnants of the Fanyang Army may not be able to make a big difference, but you have no experience in leading troops in the north, so you need to be extra careful."
Luoyang had been recovered, but the cities above Luoyang all the way to Fanyang that had been occupied by Duan Shiang were still in the hands of the remnants of the Fanyang army, or were occupied by the rebel army and civilians.
Chang Suining suspected that there were still people of Prince Rong among them. In order to cut off the possibility of them gathering together to cause trouble again, she had to go there as soon as possible and quickly quell the post-war chaos in Hebei Province.
Of course, wherever she pacifies will become hers later - that's the rule.
If you ask what rules they are, they are naturally the rules set by Chang Suining himself.
She fights the battles and she makes the rules, and nothing could be more reasonable and appropriate.
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